Chakra (2)
Just as a plant draws nutrients from the earth through its roots, it draws the ideals within through connections extending into one’s mental image.
That was the power of 「Roots of the Ideal」, the derivative skill of the chakra Hun had awakened.
Thanks to it, whenever he wished, he could borrow the inner landscapes of other avatars and use them as nourishment for his chakra.
Like swapping out an external hard drive containing stored data, he had become able to freely change the mental image that formed the foundation of his microcosm.
With this, he had gained a versatility no less than that of other multi-chakra ability users.
Moreover, unlike them, who had no choice but to divide their own potential among several, he could make full use of all of it intact; in terms of growth limits as well, it was as if he stood on an incomparable advantage.
“...Theoretically, at least.”
Several hours had passed since he had fainted from the aftereffects of awakening a new ability.
Hun, who had checked his ability immediately after regaining consciousness, stroked his chin with an ambiguous expression.
Faaa—
He lowered his gaze and looked at his own body, from which a faint glow was flowing.
A pseudo-divine power reproduced by borrowing the image of “faith,” the inner mental image of Saint Heinrich.
Thanks to that, his physical condition was rapidly improving, but...
“The output is really lacking.”
That power was so feeble it could not even begin to compare to what Heinrich used directly.
‘Even this much is something, I suppose.’
But it was undeniable that it fell short of his expectations.
This was a separate issue from Heinrich being the incarnation of fanaticism.
If he had to point out the problem, it lay with Hun, the one operating the chakra.
‘I have more than enough resources, but I can’t make full use of them because I lack the power to draw them in.’
Simply put, the cause was his insufficient proficiency with his main chakra, “Communication.”
And that was not the only thing he needed to resolve.
“The loss that occurs in the process of manifesting chakra twice is considerable. I’ll have to do something about this part too.”
He used Communication manifested through chakra to draw in another mental image, then used that mental image to manifest chakra again.
It was only natural that efficiency would drop the more complicated the intermediate process became.
“...For the time being, it looks like the most efficient method is still to directly hammer mental contamination into their heads like I’ve been doing. And as it happens, my ability to make mental contact has been strengthened thanks to Communication.”
Of course, this too was simply a matter of time.
Whatever the case, Hun had only just sprouted his chakra.
With various corrections including 『Elixir of Growth』, the areas where he was somewhat lacking would likely improve quickly.
After all, his mental strength, which could be called the most important factor in handling chakra, was already more than abundant.
Even after that, Hun’s chakra demonstrations continued.
Drops of blood leaking from between his fingernails embroidered the air, particles of light like fireflies played around him, and a thick darkness took the shape of a sword before vanishing with the wind.
“Good. Even so, this much is...”
After he felt he had become somewhat accustomed to handling chakra.
Hun stood before a door and quietly caught his breath.
It was the room where Lamu, who still had not regained consciousness since they had crossed over to Sabacheon, was staying.
‘Let’s have a little talk, Lamu.’
After all, when it came to maintaining a smooth relationship with a child, nothing was as important as conversation.
Hun, whose very purpose of birth was that of a nanny.
Having acquired the Chakra of Communication and evolved one stage further, he took a dignified step into the room.
***
To state the conclusion first.
His attempt to contact the mind of the sleeping Lamu ended in failure.
‘Still, maybe I can call half... no, about a quarter of it a success.’
Though he had not been able to converse with her directly, thanks to the attempt, he was able to clearly grasp what the cause of the problem was.
And just as he had already expected to some extent, the problem she was currently experiencing was not something he could do anything about.
‘A conflict between the abilities she already possessed and the newly granted ability. And on top of that, untangling the twisted flow of her spiritual veins and resetting her permissions...’
To begin with, the Akasha System’s awakening targets were limited to Earthlings.
Everything had been adjusted to them, people born on Earth, where mystery did not exist, possessing bodies no different from blank slates.
Since he had used a loophole to force that onto someone from another world, it was not so strange that some problems had occurred in the process.
‘...I should have somehow verified the danger before trying it. I was too hasty. Was my field of vision narrowed because I was in a hurry?’
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that her condition was not all that severe.
He could not tell whether it was originally like this or whether Lamu was special, but he could clearly feel that she was gradually getting better as time passed.
‘At this rate, she should wake up in about a week.’
Including the time he had waited so far, that meant it would take roughly half a month.
Since he was with her now, it was not particularly a problem, but it was such a long time that his vision went dark just thinking about what would have happened if Lamu had been alone.
‘Still, I’m glad it’s only this bad... As long as she wakes up, it’s definitely a gain.’
A new unique skill, stat enhancement through the system, growth corrections that would allow her to become stronger more quickly, and so on.
There had been a slight crisis, but in the long term, no matter how one looked at it, it was full of advantages.
And the half-month he had wasted here amounted to less than two days on Earth, so it was not a major loss in terms of time either.
And Hun did not waste even that time idly.
“My goodness... You truly are incredible. I heard the speed at which you opened your chakra was exceptional, but to think you’ve already moved past the entry stage after so little time.”
Several days after devoting himself to chakra training day after day.
Mac Morris, a young Canadian man whom he encountered at the lodging prepared for otherworlders, clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at him.
A man with brown hair and a burly physique, he was an awakened individual who had crossed over to Sabacheon seven years ago, and had been staying with the Yun family for two years.
“Tell me about it. I was feeling proud because I opened my chakra in two months... I suppose this is what real talent looks like. It really makes you feel deprived.”
The one beside him, Su Myat Mun, a woman from Myanmar in her fifth year, responded to his words.
Among the dozen or so Earthlings affiliated with the Yun family as guest retainers, these two were part of that group.
“...If Miss Myat, who is already at the end of the Upper Layer and on the verge of the Deep Layer, says that, what does that make me, when I’m still in the Lower Layer...?”
“Oh, Mr. Morris, you’re an ability user based on your unique skill, aren’t you? Aptitude differs from person to person, so you can’t judge only by chakra realm. I heard that if it’s purely combat ability, you’re not inferior to most Upper Layer practitioners.”
“Hahaha, you flatter me.”
The total number of Earthlings under the Yun family’s care exceeded ten, but in actuality, not many of them were staying in this lodging at present.
Even including these two, Hun, who had been here for quite some time now, had only met about four of them, hadn’t he?
‘The full support and generous treatment given to Earthlings isn’t free, after all.’
It was not something that concerned Hun yet, since he had not been here long, but there was an unspoken agreement that those who had grown enough to protect themselves would be dispatched all over the world at the Yun family’s request to help with their affairs.
Of course, from the Earthlings’ point of view, it was not a bad arrangement either.
After all, if they wanted to return to Earth or become stronger, they needed to obtain karma, and for that, they had to show some sort of achievement one way or another.
It was naturally safer to have the support of an influential family behind them than to charge blindly into the unknown, so it could be considered mutually beneficial.
“...In any case, Mr. Hun. Please be careful. Anton’s behavior has been troubling lately.”
“Sigh, I really don’t know what he thinks he’s doing. People in the same situation should be joining forces, not getting blinded by a woman.”
“Well, I do understand how he feels. It’s already been years since Anton started chasing after Miss Yun.”
It was not by coincidence that Hun had suddenly ended up speaking with them.
They had deliberately come to find him in order to warn him in advance.
“...I have no feelings whatsoever toward Miss Yun Soso.”
“That’s a separate matter, I’d say. No, if anything, maybe that’s exactly why he’s even angrier. If the person who monopolized in an instant the attention he couldn’t receive even after chasing her for years shows that kind of attitude...”
“And on top of that, he had just returned triumphantly after reaching the Upper Layer during a mission, hadn’t he? He must have been full of confidence, and then he saw that scene.”
It had all begun with Yun Soso, who had openly been making eyes at Hun.
That sight had been witnessed by an Earthling named Anton, who had just finished a mission and come to meet her.
By the man who had supposedly courted her for years and followed after her everywhere.
‘Ugh, no wonder something felt off. I put up such an iron wall, and things still turned out like this.’
From Hun’s point of view, he could only feel wronged.
He had worked so hard not to leave even the slightest opening, so who could have known he would end up saddled with this?
‘These two don’t seem to have any intention of actively taking my side either.’
Their connection was far too shallow for that.
There was nothing good about getting caught up in someone else’s romantic dispute and earning the resentment of an Upper Layer practitioner for no reason.
The fact that they had come to warn him like this was already, in their own way, an act of goodwill.
‘Or maybe it’s because of the rumors about my speed of growth.’
However, no matter how fast he grew, for now he was only a practitioner in the Lower Layer.
Since there were countless people in the world who had once been called geniuses but ended as ordinary talents, it was not exactly a good decision to ostracize someone who had already reached the Upper Layer just based on that possibility.
‘Ah, I already don’t have enough time to train. If friction breaks out for no reason, it’ll just be annoying...’
Of course, they judged that way because they did not know Hun’s splendid record.
If they had known that, in the process of rescuing the kidnapped Yun Sohoi, he had already turned several Upper Layer practitioners into cripples, they would have tried by any means to take his side and curry favor with him.
But there was no way those who were merely guest retainers could know the full story of that incident, which was being treated as top secret for the sake of the family’s prestige.
‘Come on, surely not. A man who’s supposed to be a guest retainer wouldn’t cause trouble inside the Yun family estate.’
However, as the sages of old had said time and again.
It was always “surely not” that got people killed.
“Hey, you there.”
The day after the two had warned him.
In just a single day, the incident they had feared ended up breaking out.
“You, your name is Hun? Even your name is as unlucky as your face. So much that I want to crush your arms and legs right this instant.”
Anton, a man from Belarus with a height nearing two meters and tattoos all over his body.
Blocking Hun’s path as he had just finished training and was heading back to the lodging, he openly bared his teeth, both eyes filled with hostility.
“...Haa.”
A sigh escaped him on its own.
Yes, to be honest... he had expected it to some extent.
After all, there was no such thing as a person who lived purely rationally in this world.
‘Still, I’d held out a little hope. I didn’t think he’d come at me with such an obvious pattern.’
Hun looked at the large man blocking his path.
He had been prattling on about something for a while now, but there was no need to bother listening to him.
In any case, he simply wanted to pick a fight.
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
Perhaps he had noticed that.
Anton’s face twisted as he burst into an angry shout.
It seemed he did not like that, despite going this far, Hun showed no fear and remained indifferent.
But from Hun’s perspective, no matter what he said, it was only annoying.
‘...No. Maybe this is an opportunity too.’
A thought suddenly flashed through Hun’s mind, and he looked at Anton with a peculiar gaze.
Although he had heard the man had only just ascended, his opponent was, at any rate, a practitioner who had reached the Upper Layer.
Now that he, too, had learned chakra, perhaps unlike before, he might realize something while facing him.
‘Then it might help me grow my chakra faster.’
No matter how astonishingly fast he was growing, changing with each passing day, an opponent like this was not someone he could defeat with chakra that had only just left the entry stage and entered the lower tier.
But he did not care.
If it truly did not work out, he could simply use other means.
“...Pfft. Fine, this is actually for the best. I’ll take this chance to fix that habit of yours for good.”
The aura around Anton, whose lips had been twitching, changed.
At the same time, the texture of the surrounding air shifted, and everything in every direction slowly began to be pressed down by a heavy force.
Hun narrowed his eyes slightly at the power restricting his movements.
‘Gravity? Weight?’
Before he could determine the exact factor, his priority was to prepare a countermeasure.
A faint haze rose from Hun’s body.
The “Martial” he had borrowed from the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, Ha Seunghun, spread through his limbs and bones, resisting the weight pressing down on his body.
“Oh? Not bad for a lower-tier. Then try this as well...”
“What do you think you’re doing here!”
However, the tension that had been gradually heightening between the two was shattered by the voice that suddenly cut in.
Turning their heads toward the direction of the voice, they saw a boy striding toward them with a frown.
A face familiar to Hun.
And a boy Anton, who had stayed with the Yun family for quite some time, had also encountered several times.
“Tch!”
A displeased click of the tongue slipped from his mouth.
At the same time, the heaviness pressing down on the surroundings slowly dispersed.
No matter how reckless he was, as a guest, he could not treat the young master of the Yun family however he pleased.
All the more so when he considered that the boy had a terrifying older sister who was especially fond of him.
“You got lucky. We’ll stop here for today. From now on, know your place before you act up. Unless you want to die without anyone ever knowing.”
Having tossed out those words, Anton vanished without even waiting for an answer.
Now that the whole situation had been ruined, there was nothing to be gained by lingering there any longer.
“That, that...! Whew! Are you all right?”
Yun Sohoe, who had been about to rage at him, let out a short sigh and looked at Hun with concern.
Of course, even he, the one who had been saved, knew full well about Hun’s abilities, but was that not power based on the extremely offensive ability known as mental waves?
For one thing, using such a vicious ability on someone who was practically on the same side was a problem, and hesitating because of that only to get injured before he could do anything was also a problem.
“Well, I’m perfectly fine. More importantly, what brings you all the way here? Didn’t you say you’d be busy focusing on training for a while?”
At his concern, Hun merely shrugged and answered as if it were nothing.
The chance to experience a rare real battle had slipped away, but he did not mind.
After all, if he wanted such an opportunity, he could create one whenever he pleased.
“...Shameless as it is, I came because I wanted to ask you a favor.”
“A favor?”
“The elders of the family said we should wait a little longer, but... having already been caught up in an incident once, I’m too uneasy to just sit and wait. And it’s not as though there’s anyone else I can ask...”
“Hmm. Then let’s hear the details first.”
At his casual attitude, Yun Sohoe hesitated before answering.
“Whew. Not long ago, Sister Lucette left for Hongsan Kingdom on a mission...”
“Mm.”
“...and went missing.”
“Hm?”
The main point, thrown out without preamble.
It was the beginning of a ripple that would shake the peace that had continued for decades.